In late 2022, at the G20 summit held at a balmy resort in Bali, Indonesia, the prime minister of Canada, Justin Trudeau, bumped into the supreme leader of China, Xi Jinping. The encounter, which was filmed, was not a happy one. An irritated-looking Xi took issue with Trudeau, claiming that the Canadian had leaked an earlier conversation. For a few seconds, the usually impassive visage of one of the most powerful people in the world slipped. Xi’s words were curt and his body language hostile. Trudeau, somewhat chastened, could at least move away to regain his composure. If it had been one of China’s many provincial leaders on the receiving end of Xi’s rebuke, one can well imagine that they would not have felt able to make such a retreat. 

That Chinese leaders live behind a wall of secrecy and opacity is not a new phenomenon. From the founding father of the current regime, Mao Zedong, on, they have mirrored the emperors of the past, who lived in seclusion, shrouded by mystery. But the fact that China’s leaders continue to live at such a remove when everyone everywhere, through satellites, the internet and public surveillance technologies, is under constant scrutiny is remarkable. The Chinese leadership circle is, indeed, the last black hole on the planet. 

The long-time Asia-based journalist Michael Sheridan has set himself a hard task in trying to get under the skin of Xi. He was inspired to write this new biography, he says, by realising how little is known of the man. Striving to fill the huge gaps in my own